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DIY - Case for HP Z800 Workstation Motherboard

N

Noo

Senior member
Here is the finished product:

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I got an extra motherboard laying around that I don't want to go to waste and figured it would be a fun project to do. It's a dual xeon lga1366 motherboard so I'm in the process of building a bench/case for it. Can you guys give me an idea what to do next? Right now I need ideas on mounting the power supply and how to securely mount the graphic card...

I know the motherboard uses proprietary power connections but I think I can figured it out or buy power adapters.
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Without double-checking, I assume that motherboard fits the EATX spec.

I am wondering "why fiberboard or wood?" But you have to understand my attitude.

Back in 2007, I mod-built this case which already had an EATX motherboard pan -- with one nonstandard proprietary mobo screw location:

TheChromeWindow.jpg


This was an old 1995 Compaq ProLiant server case, with a SCSI backplane on the drive-cage rear with slide-out hot-swap trays with locking finger-latches.

For difficulties like the creation of a properly-located motherboard screw in the mobo-pan, you'd pick up a <$10 screw-tap kit at Sears for a 6/32 screw-thread spec of most all computer cases.

So -- again -- "why the fiberboard/wood?" Maybe your idea is better. I'm just curious what it is, or what it might look like eventually .
 
Oh wow, that motherboard tray would be a lifesaver, however, this is larger than an EATX motherboard :O Plus I would like to do this as cheap as possible 🙂 as it's just going to be a fun project so that's why i'm kicking around for ideas. I don't know whether or not I should lay the motherboard horizontally or vertically. The motherboard is quite large, larger than EATX standard 🙁 so laying it horizontally may take up way too much room....

aigomorla said:
i probably would of started the project with this guy first:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/lian...acement-removable-motherboard-tray-pc-6x.html

That would solve your i/o shield (if you have one) and graphics card....

As for the power supply, did you intend to wall mount this project? or will it lay flat as shown?
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BonzaiDuck said:
Without double-checking, I assume that motherboard fits the EATX spec.

I am wondering "why fiberboard or wood?" But you have to understand my attitude.

Back in 2007, I mod-built this case which already had an EATX motherboard pan -- with one nonstandard proprietary mobo screw location:



This was an old 1995 Compaq ProLiant server case, with a SCSI backplane on the drive-cage rear with slide-out hot-swap trays with locking finger-latches.

For difficulties like the creation of a properly-located motherboard screw in the mobo-pan, you'd pick up a <$10 screw-tap kit at Sears for a 6/32 screw-thread spec of most all computer cases.

So -- again -- "why the fiberboard/wood?" Maybe your idea is better. I'm just curious what it is, or what it might look like eventually .
Click to expand...

It's a fun project that I don't really want to spend any money or as little as possible. Whatever I have laying around I'm going to use it or jerry-rigged it to work before buying anything. 😀
 
Some mock-up for the graphic cards. I think I'm going to stand the motherboard up vertically...taking ideas on how to finish the rest of the case..



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get some threaded rods then so you can brace the cards like this banchetto.

Basically u want the threaded rods long enough so you can use a washer to tighten the cards down and prevent them from jiggling around and shorting out the pci-e slots.

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aigomorla said:
get some threaded rods then so you can brace the cards like this banchetto.

Basically u want the threaded rods long enough so you can use a washer to tighten the cards down and prevent them from jiggling around and shorting out the pci-e slots.
Click to expand...

I think i got it figured out. 🙂 Remember cheap is the name of the game.
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Also, I've tried going this route before - it's hard to do, and hard to do right. IMO in the long run you'll be happier if you just buy the cheapest E-ATX case you can find. It'll be $60-$80 well spent.
 
did you pull the system from a 1u or a 2u?

because from the looks of it, i think you may need more fans.

I saw this because of how the ram is lined up, and that black chipset heatsink for the x58.

Your gonna need air movement over those components
 
It's an HP z800 Workstation tower, It's not rackmountable. As far as cooling, I'm waiting on a 2nd Coolermaster Hyper T4 for the 2nd CPU. and of course, I'm planning to have 3 120mm fans in the front of the "case" It's going to aim directly at the Ram (all 10 slots will be populated for a total of 40gb ECC ram), chipset, and HDD.

Something like this
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Out of curiosity, does the Z800 BIOS b*tch at you about the HSF fans / fan speed/type when using the CM T4?
HP made 2 versions of their heatpipe coolers - a regular, and a high performance version (the mobo detects it via an extra wire that is tied to ground).
 
Only if you're using a high performance CPU (i.e. x5680+) and the problem can easily be remedied by connecting the extra pin (5th pin) to the ground wire of the fan.

Like this

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Noo said:
Only if you're using a high performance CPU (i.e. x5680+) and the problem can easily be remedied by connecting the extra pin (5th pin) to the ground wire of the fan.

Like this

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Nice! That's what I've read as well, but apparently some folks were still having issues with it.
I just stuck with the stock performance HSFs for simplicity.
Fortunately, the Z800s and Z600s came with two pre-installed in each, otherwise they're a little on the expensive side ($45+ on eBay 😱 )
 
Update on Project Frankenstein.

  • Power Button installed
  • Front USB, headphone/microphone, firewire installed
  • Hard drives installed
  • 2nd CPU & Cooler installed.
  • 40gb of Ram installed.

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Noo said:
It's an HP z800 Workstation tower, It's not rackmountable.
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Nice custom case.
What's your plan for the finish on the outside of the case?

Just to clarify though, The Z800 case is rackmountable, HP makes a kit for that, you can also find resellers on Amazon and Ebay that sell those kits. 😉
Most folks don't want to pay the $250+ for the kit though, so they look at the directions, and make their own with standard components a lot whole cheaper. 😀
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01689230.pdf
 
No plan on finishing the outside, just going to run this monstrosity like this until it dies.
 
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